


After Today

by FFanon



Category: Wind River (2017)
Genre: A little angst, F/M, Fluff, Love, Movie Spoilers, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-08
Updated: 2017-10-08
Packaged: 2019-01-10 13:30:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12300132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FFanon/pseuds/FFanon
Summary: An AU of Matt's story.   Contains some 'Wind River' spoilers.





	1. Lost

 

 

**_Five Years Ago_ **

 

In a million years Addison never thought she’d be spending Christmas alone, nor in a different state.

Her Christmases have always been with family; full of laughs and love. But not this year. Her parents had gotten a divorce later in life, her sister was engaged to an asshole, and Addison herself, was just tired. Tired of the fighting because of all of it. Which made her tired of her life at the moment.

Quitting her job at the law firm was scary. Being a paralegal was interesting, but she still felt unfulfilled. And now with both parents questioning her on her legal knowledge in a vow to divorce the other, she just couldn’t do it anymore.  

Searching the internet she was able to find a new part time job doing what she loved. Photography.

A little up and coming magazine, was looking for someone willing to travel to capture images of small towns around the country. They couldn’t afford to cover all the travel expenses at the moment, but the bigger the magazine became, the bigger the raise.  

Addison saw it as a welcome challenge. She had enough savings to travel cheap, and the salary she would be getting would always help, and they had enjoyed her portfolio of pictures despite it just being her hobby.

Her first assignment - Ojai, California.

Seventy degree weather on Christmas is unheard of in her hometown in Vermont. Walking around in a red cotton sundress and sandals was not something she’d normally be doing in December.

Walking around town, she stopped to take photographs of little shops. Spoke with some owners to include them in the photo and learn a little about their background to include in the captions later.  

The views of the beaches and the ocean from on top of this mountain town took her breath away.  She couldn’t wait to see them later when the sun set.

Despite the holiday, there were still people walking about. No one seeming to be in a bad mood at all. It makes her wonder just how magical of a place this really was.

As she’s walking, she comes upon a beautiful park. Flowers blooming, trees a dark green. In order to capture it all, she needs to back up a bit to incorporate it all in the picture.

She did look both ways before stepping into the middle of the street, swears it was clear. But as she lifts the camera up to her face, focusing on getting the shot, everything happened too fast for her to even realize.

A traffic light must have changed and cars came barreling around the corner. Before she could even react to the car horns, she felt a pair of strong arms wrap around her and she was being carried quickly to the sidewalk.

Her heart racing as her brain quickly puts together what happened and what  _could_  have happened, she looks up at the owner of the strong arms.  Brown eyes look back at her, concern written in them.

“Hey, you alright?”

She just manages to nod, still taking in that she almost died.

“Must have been some picture to risk your life,” he gives a small smile, trying to bring her out of her own head.

It works.

“There weren’t any cars when I stepped out,” she answers, then realizes she still hasn’t thanked him, “And thank you. I can’t believe that just happened.”

“You wanna sit down?” he kindly offers.

“Yeah,” she replies, still in a light daze. The man puts a hand on her back lightly, and guides her over to a small brick wall a few feet away. Addison sits down and he sits next to her, keeping his eyes on her. Making sure she’s okay.

“I, um, I don’t know how to repay you,” she looks at her rescuer. His jaw is sharp and clean shaven and his eyes so sweet. His arms are definitely strong due to those muscles trying to break free from his t shirt, “Let me buy you a drink, or something. I mean, you could have gotten hurt yourself for my stupid decision.”

Her statement makes him smile and she feels like she may be blushing.

“It’s 11:00am,” he chuckles and she feels silly now for not realizing how ridiculous that offer sounded, “Plus, I have to get back to base later so can’t be drinking,” he adds.

“Base?”

“Yeah, Point Mugu. I’m in the Navy, stationed there right now.”

No wonder he’s in such great shape and so clean cut.

“Oh, wow. Well thank you for your service as well as for saving my life,” she adds with a shy smile.

He gives a quick, humble nod, “You’re welcome,” then he glances at her camera that she’s still clutching onto, “So, you always out taking pictures on Christmas?”

With a small laugh that makes him smile, “Um, no. I’m just visiting for work. New job and coming here was my first assignment.”

“You get hazard pay?” he jokes.

“No,” she laughs.

He laughs too, “Should probably ask about it after today.”

“Maybe I will,” she smiles with another laugh, “I’m Addison by the way,” and she sticks out her hand.

“Matt,” he shakes her hand.

And both think how they’d rather not let go.

When they release hands, Addison looks at him, “Well, you’re in the service and you just saved my life, so…would you let me treat you to lunch or something?”

Matt smiles and looks out at the street before looking back at her gorgeous grin, “How about  _I_  treat you to lunch and in return, you let me tag along on this adventure you seem to be on today? Seems you could use a second set of eyes,” he teases.

She rolls her eyes but still laughs and Matt smiles at the sweet sound.

“Sounds fair enough,” she agrees and they stand up. Addison packs her camera into her bag and looks at Matt.

“Which way were you headed before I changed your plans?”

“Nowhere. Didn’t feel like sitting on base with the little skits and shit they do for us. Just needed to get out and explore.”

With a smile that makes his heart race, Addison looks at him, a gleam in her eyes,“So let’s explore.”

And they did. They walked around and found a little cafe where they sat and ate and talked for at least a couple of hours. Both found the other comfortable to talk to and with a presence that left them constantly wanting more of it.

Addison found that he truly listened to her. Asked questions about her life and wasn’t just asking to be polite.

Matt had be alone so long, life of the military, that having someone so intelligent and charming to speak with was like a breath of fresh air that he didn’t even know he needed.

When they finally decided to leave, they easily continued their conversation as they continued strolling along the streets.  Stopping when she asked so she could take pictures.  

Watching her work was soothing to him. Surrounded by testosterone all day, it’s a stress he’s become accustomed too. But seeing Addison in her realm, was a sight he made sure to burn into his memory.

The hem of her dress blowing gently in the wind, her hair more shiny in the sunlight.  The way her brows furrowed ever so slightly as she decided what angle to take the picture. And then the tiny smirk that’d appear when she did.

It was a couple hours later when they stopped so she could photograph a tree with the most vibrant oranges dangling from it’s branches.

“God, this is beautiful!” she beamed.

Matt found himself staring at her, agreeing in his head that this is beautiful,  _she_  is.

As she took a few pictures, Matt looked up and plucked an orange off the tree.

“What are you doing?” she giggled.

“You ever taste a fresh orange before?”

“You may not know this, stuck in an naval base all day, but there’s this place called a supermarket that sells those,” and she grins something proud at teasing him.

Matt raises a brow and laughs, “Is that right? You’ll have to show me one of these  _super_  markets you speak of one day,” he responds with a wink causing her to laugh.

“Really though, come here,” and he holds his hand out to her which she takes with no hesitation. He pulls her closer to him and hands her the orange.

“Feel how heavy that is,” and she does, “You’re not going to find an orange that juicy anywhere other than the tree it grows on.”

Addison hands it back to him, “May I ask how you’re so knowledgeable in citrus fruits?”

With a grin, “Stationed in Florida for a few months.”

She just shakes her head with an amused smile.

As he pierces the fruit’s skin, he hears the shutter of the camera go off a couple of times. When he looks up, she pulls the camera away from her face a little and smiles innocently.

“Please?” she asks so sweetly.

“I’m not signing a release. First time being in a magazine, it’s not gonna be me peeling an orange,” he jokes.

He truly makes her laugh and if she only knew how proud he feels when he does.

As she takes a few more, she shares the possible caption from behind the camera, “Unknown male steals orange. Declares it the juiciest piece of fruit he’s ever seen.”

When Matt leans his head back with a laugh, she quickly takes more.

“Alright shutterbug, come taste this,” he holds out a piece of the orange to her.

She takes the piece and bites into it, juice trailing down her chin.  With the camera in her other hand, he reaches out and places his hand on her jaw so he can wipe it away with his thumb.  

She giggles at the scene and he smiles, wiping his thumb on his jeans.  

“You’re right. You’d never find this in a store,” she nods in agreement, finishing the other half of it.

“Told ya,” he grins before biting his own piece.

As what happened with her, juice dribbles down his chin. He manages to wipe some off with the back of his hand, but Addison helps him out with the rest.  She reaches up and touches him the same way he did her, wiping it away with her thumb.

Without thinking about it, she simply puts the pad of her thumb between her lips to lick the juice from her skin.  It takes a strong will for him not to kiss her right then.

Then she gently takes his wrist and leads him over to a nearby bench where they sit and share the orange.

She digs in her bag for tissues when the juice trails down his arm, “What am I going to do with you?”

“Can’t take me anywhere,” he replies as she holds his wrist to keep it steady as she wipes the tissue down his forearm.  

They’re sitting very close to each other, that when she finishes wiping his arm, she settles into his side a bit as she looks at the pictures she’s taken on the digital viewer of her camera.  

He holds out the last piece to her as he puts an arm behind her shoulders, resting it on the back of the bench.

She takes the piece and asks him to hold the camera, which he does.

As she looks down to break the piece in half, the shutter of the camera goes off.

“Matt!” She looks at him, him having just taken her picture.

“What? You take pictures of beautiful things right? Well, I see something that fits that criteria,” and he takes another one of her as she blushes at his statement, a shy smile on her face.

“No one wants to see my face,” she playfully whines as she ducks under the camera to lean into him so he can’t take any more.

He holds the camera away from his face and looks down at her, “You’re wrong about that. ‘Cause I do.”

She hears him, and she doesn’t hear a light tone to it. She sits up a bit to look at him, and he’s serious. They’re faces closer than they have been.

Before anything happens, they hear singing floating out of the spanish mission church behind them.

_Silent Night_

_Holy Night_

_All is calm_

_All is bright_

Both of them turn their heads towards the opened doors of the church, then they look back at each other.

Wordlessly, she takes the camera from him and puts it in her bag. She pops half the orange piece into her mouth and gives him the other where he does the same. He stands up and puts his hand out which she takes, standing up.

They walk over to the doors and peer inside. Matt leans against the doorway and lets her hand go to wrap an arm around her waist, pulling her in front of him, then moves his arm to wrap around her front, pulling her back against his chest. She smiles to herself when he keeps it there.

Leaning against him, her temple is by his chin and she swears she feels it pressing against her. She rests an arm on his at her stomach.

He feels her index finger slowly rubbing the middle knuckle of his own.

She feels as his other fingers slowly find themselves between hers.

As the choir continues singing the beautiful Christmas carol, Matt turns his head, lips brushing against her temple before he brings them to her ear.

“Merry Christmas,” he says softly.

She smiles and turns her head to look at him, “Merry Christmas.”

With a soft smile, he watches as she turns in his grasp to face him.

Her heart races as he brings his hands up to tenderly hold her face.

Matt kisses her and smiles to himself at how her lips tastes of the juice from the orange.

It’s a simple, really great kiss. One that leaves them both with a cute grin. As soon as they pull away, he wraps his arms around her, pulling her into him. Addison hugs his torso, him kissing her cheek.

She notices the sun setting as she looks over his shoulder and remembers she wants to see it in the spot overlooking the beaches.

Once she shares it with him, they take a cab over to the spot.  

She takes her photos then stands at the safety railing looking out at the water with Matt behind her like he was at the church.  And just like before she turns in his arms and this time she puts her arms around his neck.

He kisses her, gently pushes her back against the railing; one hand of his gripping the metal, the other against her lower back.

It’s a short time later that they find themselves back at her motel room. Matt moving on top of her, getting lost in the sweet sounds of pleasure leaving her lips.

Her hands roam the muscles of his hard body, nails digging in at spots causing him to groan in arousal.

This isn’t her, normally. Rarely does she sleep with someone after one date. Though it wasn’t just a date with him, they spent the day together. Either way, the factors of the day just led her to make the decision that she wanted all of him. And apparently, he wanted all of her too.

As she lays in his arms after, he sweetly caresses her skin continuously.  His fingers running along her arm that’s on his chest, his other hand buried in her hair.

“I know you’re only here for a few more days,” he starts, “And I’m not sure how it might work, but you…” and she moves to lean on her elbow to look at him, “…I don’t want to lose you after today,” his eyes searching hers as his fingers trail along her back.

Her hand touches his jaw, thumb stroking his cheek; he runs his hand up her forearm.

“We’ll figure it out,” she offers with a sweet smile, leaning down and kissing him, “I don’t want to lose you either.”

At that, he sits up and gently guides her back down to lean over her, kissing her like she might disappear any second.

But eventually they did lose each other.

Or so they thought.


	2. Found

_**** _

 

_**Present Day** _

 

Warmth envelopes her as soon as she pushes open the wooden door.  The smell of cigarettes fills her nostrils and the sound of rowdy men fill her ears. Still, she’d take it over sitting sober in her motel room.

The Wind River area of Wyoming sounds nice on paper, but no amount of reading can really prepare one for the weather.  The heavy snow, paired with the winds, caused Addison to miss several turns to her motel, inevitably becoming lost. Then, her rental car got stuck on a terribly plowed road, she waited over an hour for a tow, then finally gets to her motel only to find out it’s a ‘dry’ area .  And after the nightmare day of traveling she had, all she wanted was to indulge in a drink.

That’s how she found herself at the nearest bar, one town over.  

The loudness is coming from a group of men over by the furthest wall, by the pool table. There’s several other patrons inside, some occupying a couple booths, some at the bar.

Addison grabs a seat at the bar, taking her winter layers off to settle in comfortably.  After ordering a beer, she pulls out her cell phone in hopes of maybe answering some work emails…or checking out Instagram…just something to keep her occupied as she enjoys her beer.

Twenty minutes in and she sees in her peripheral one of the men break from the obnoxious group, and start heading in her direction.

Assuming he’s coming to hit on her, she feigns serious interest in her phone, turning slightly to avoid any kind of eye contact.

Bracing for a cheesy pick up line or a lame greeting, she never gets one.  But she does get the surprise of her life when she hears him order.

“Hey, can I get another round?” a polite, masculine voice asks the bartender.

Addison’s eyes widen momentarily.  _It can’t be_ , she thinks.

The bartender, as he gets the drinks, asks the man to tell his buddies not to throw the billiards balls at each other. She hears the man sigh.

“I will, man. I’m real sorry about that,” and he sounds embarrassed and sincere and she wonders how he’s ended up with a bunch like that.

Looking in the mirror behind the bar, she finally gets a good look at him.

It’s him. It’s her Matt.

Except, instead of the clean cut man she had known, now he has a short beard, and his hair is a little more grown out on top.

A small gasp as her heart races, every emotion flooding into her senses.

She never thought she’d find him again. After that Christmas five years ago, they saw each other only one more time before she had to leave. But they did keep in touch.

They wrote and called, for a little over a year. Even managed to visit one another several times. But he got deployed and she moved a couple of times and along the way, numbers were unintentionally lost, letters were returned to senders, and they just became ghosts.

But now, the man she’s never truly stopped thinking about, whose name she obsessively looked for on every Navy casualty list she could find for the past few years, is right here. In the same small town, in the same dive bar. Just a foot away.

“Matt…”

Matt turns at his name and when he finds the face of the speaker, he feels like he’s dreaming.

“Addy,” he breathes in wonderment. He straightens up from leaning on the bar, fully turning towards her.

Hearing his nickname for her makes her tear up faster than she thought.

“Hi,” she gives him a small smile and it feels like the air is knocked out of him.

“I can’t believe this,” he says, “Holy shit, come here,” and he opens his arms, with Addy stepping down off her chair to hug him tight.

Being in one another’s arms, after so long, sparks up every emotion they’ve each had to push down for all these years.

He hears the tiniest hint of a sob when he brings a hand to cradle the back of her head, her arms hugging him just a bit tighter.  He presses his cheek against her head, closes his eyes to remember just how much it is he’s missed her.

She feels his nose brush against her hair as his whispered, saddened words hit her ear, “I’m so sorry I lost you.”

With that, she has to wipe a tear away before caressing the nape of his neck, then pulling back just a bit to look at him.

“You never truly did,” she shares quietly, eyes full of love and unshed tears.

He brings his hand to rest against her cheek, just taking a minute to really look at her again, to memorize her face all over again.  

When Addison brings her hand up to cover his own, Matt feels that sense of home that he’s been missing for too long.

“Tell me you’ve got time to stay. We can grab a booth? Let me just bring these over to those assholes over there,” and he makes a tiny motion with his head to indicate the loud men towards the back.

“Yeah, of course,” she smiles and his heart clenches.

With a stroke of his thumb against her cheek, and a grin, “Okay, good.”

Hesitantly they pull their hands back. Matt grabs the tray of beers and Addy grabs her things, grabbing one of the open booths.

It’s been so long that he doesn’t know if he should sit next to her or not. Despite the obvious feelings still between them, he doesn’t want to assume anything so he slides in across from her.

They just share shy smiles and small laughs as they look at each other again.

“I just can’t believe you’re here right now,” he states with a big smile, eyes full of light. And those wrinkles at his eyes that she used to kiss.

“It’s unbelievable,” she agrees with a smile, “I’m still with that magazine. The Wind River Reservation is my current assignment.”

The beard on him quickly becomes a favorite, especially watching the way his fingers run down it sometimes as he talks.

“You’re not gonna believe this, but I work there. Private security at a drilling site.”

“Really? How’d you get into that? Just always figured you’d make a career out of the Navy.”

He sucks in his bottom lip a bit, teeth running over the beard under his lip for a second before answering, “Got discharged a couple years ago. Finished serving my time and just decided to, I don’t know…”

“Explore?” she offers with a small smirk, remembering how it was that same need that caused them to cross paths that Christmas day in Ojai.

He chuckles, nodding in remembrance, “Exactly. Needed a new gig though, so found this one through Veteran services. Figured it’d be a completely different thing to try.”

“You like it?”

“It’s not bad,” he scratches at the label of his beer bottle with his thumb, “Guys I work with though,” glancing at the bunch in the back, “Not the greatest group,” he shrugs, silent for a beat. But he changes the subject before she can ask, a proud grin on his face, “You know, I’d buy a copy of your magazine whenever I could, looked at all your pictures - they’re all incredible, Ads, really.”

The other nickname he’d use for her; her chest aches for him.

Cheeks a little flushed, she smiles humbly, “Thank you. That means a lot, really,” and she can’t help but reach across and touch his hand.

When he shifts his hand under her touch, in order to keep her hand tucked in his, his thumb smoothing over her knuckles, Addy looks from their hands to those soulful eyes of his.

“I, um, I never forgot about you either,” she takes a quiet breath, “Always checked the…lists that came out, to make sure, you know, that you were okay,” she doesn’t want to explain what lists, it brought back the fear she had whenever she looked, but she knew he would know which ones.

Hearing that, he can’t help but stare at her. Knowing that her care for him still ran so deep, that she worried every day for his safety this whole time they were apart.

Before he can say anything in response, one of his drunk co-workers slides in next to her out of nowhere.  Addison jumps at the abrupt entrance, her hand pulling out of Matt’s grasp, and she quickly shifts away from the man, closer to the wall.

Matt’s face grows angry and he’s instantly up, standing over Pete.

“Get up,” Matt demands menacingly.

“Aw, come on Matty! Just wanna meet the hot piece yer hidin’ over here,” Pete turns to look at her and smiles the creepiest grin she’s ever seen.

Matt grabs the collar of Pete’s shirt and yanks him out and up, standing to block him from the booth.

“Back off, you hear me?” and his tone is dark, a way she’s never heard him talk before.

Pete laughs and sticks his hands up in mock surrender before stumbling back as Matt shoves him back a bit, letting him go.

There’s no question for him this time as Matt slides in next to her now, “Shit, I’m sorry.”

She visibly relaxes with him so close, hand touching his bicep, “It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about it,” she sees he’s upset about it and she doesn’t want this reunion ruined.

“I like this by the way,” she slides her hand along his beard, “Very handsome,” she smiles.

“Yeah?” he chuckles, looking at her, her hand staying where it is.

She nods, thumb rubbing against the short hairs. Their eyes stay locked, unsaid words passing between them.

They still love each other. Always have.

“I tried to call, so many times, your number was disconnected,” he starts explaining.

“My phone broke,” she sighs, “And when I got a new one, I lost all my contacts, including yours. I was devastated,” and he hears the tiny waver in her voice.

Matt turns to face her fully, and he can’t help but smooth his hand over her hair to comfort her, let her know it’s okay.

“I still wrote you, all the time,” and she feels a couple tears fall, “But when you got deployed, they must have gotten lost somewhere. I never heard back from you.”

“Oh, Addy. Baby, I never got them,” he grips her thigh, his other arm bracing against the back of the booth, “You know I never would have left one of them unanswered.”

“I know,” she wipes at her face, before gently gripping the open edge of his hoodie, “I just never wanted you to think that I forgot about you or…stopped loving you. The thought of that hurt the most.”

He never did. Matt knows Addison like the back of his hand, knows that she’d never have stopped talking to him on purpose. They just simply lost each other along the way.

And hell, if he’d let that happen again.

“Never, that never crossed my mind,” and he brushes some hair behind her ear, palm coming to rest on her jaw, “You know I never stopped loving you either.  God, I mean, that picture I took of you on the bench, the one I had you mail me a copy of? It’s got more creases than you can imagine from all the times I’ve looked at it,” he grins.

Addy gives a small laugh, cheeks blushing, at his admission.

“I’m so glad you admitted that, because I’ve been carrying around the one of you laughing for so long,” she laughs, despite a couple more tears falling, happier ones this time.

When he smiles at her, she thinks how despite everywhere she’s traveled and everything she’s seen, it’s his smile that’s the best thing of all.

With his thumb, he wipes at her tears, leaning in, “Saving your life was the best risk I ever took,” he smirks, thumb smoothing along her bottom lip.

“Giving you my heart was mine,” she grins, giving his beard a gentle scratch.

Their smiles meet when he kisses her.  She pulls him just a little closer, leaning back more into the corner.  

A loud slap of a hand on their table makes them tear apart, the source being Pete along with, Matt’s other drunk coworker, Curtis.

Addy briefly tucks her head next to Matt’s, away from the men’s faces, where he hears her take a nervous breath, before she’s leaning back against the booth.  

“Rayburn’s snagged himself a treat already?!” Curtis laughs, leaning on his arms.

Pete’s eyes don’t stray from Addison and Matt notices.  He also notices the way she nervously glances between the two men, hands wringing together in her lap, and it makes his insides churn.  She’s scared and Matt’s pissed.

If possible, Pete’s more drunk than before.  He sways in his seat, eyes seemingly unable to focus properly, but not moving from her.

“Looks like he made ‘er cry,” Pete slurs with a chuckle before he leans forward and reaches an arm towards her.

Pete’s head is slammed against the table as Matt pushes down on his neck, his other hand holding Pete’s wrist in a move that’ll snap it in half if he so chooses to.

“Touch her and you’ll be shittin’ out your teeth,” Matt threatens.

Pete groans in pain, but the drunken ass still giggles at it all.

“Get him the fuck away, man,” Matt glares at Curtis, growling out, “Now! I’m not fuckin’ around!”

Curtis stands up slowly, angrily staring at Matt as he grabs Pete, and pulls him out of the booth.  

Matt doesn’t shy away from the staredown, standing up alongside them. As soon as they walk away, he leans down and grabs Addy’s coat before taking her hand, “We’re leaving.”

She stands up, slipping her arms into her coat that he’s held open for her.

“Go to your car, I’ll be right there, okay?” He squeezes her hip.

“Don’t get into it with them, Matt, please,” she begs.

“I won’t. Gonna settle up my part of the tab and grab my jacket. I just want you far away from them.”

He kisses her forehead and watches as she walks out the door.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t get nervous the longer she waited. Ten minutes felt like two hours when she sees Matt emerge from the bar, a fresh cut on his cheek.

“What happened?” she fusses over him, lightly touching his cheek once he gets inside.

“Misunderstanding,” he takes her wrist gently, “I’m fine, really. Let’s just get the hell out of here.”

She kisses him quicker than she cares to before she pulls out of the lot and heads back to her motel.

Once inside her room, she cleans his cut right away, “It makes me nervous, them being around you. You’re not like them. They’re unstable,” she shares her worry.  

“Been thinkin’ about quitting actually.”

Addison kisses below his cut then hugs him, “Okay then,” she agrees with his statement, “No more about them tonight. I just got you back, I’m not letting them ruin any more.”

Obviously in agreement, Matt grabs her thighs and lifts them around his hips, carrying her to the bed.

In minutes, they’re undressed. Addison learns to appreciate his beard even more as he trails kisses all across her skin, down her body.  The scrape of his beard a sexy stimulation of her nerves.  

Hearing her moans only encourages him further to pleasure her in every way to make up for the time they’ve lost.

They make love more than once. Both of them obsessed with feeling every inch of their love, pleasing them fully.

Skin sticky with sweat, they stay clinging to each other, limbs intertwined; the sheets bunched up at their feet.  

Addy parts her lips more, deepening their kiss. Her hand gently scratching his shoulder blade as he caresses her thigh draped over his hip.

Slowly, he pulls away, pressing a few soft, quick kisses to her lips before settling on his back, Addison snuggling into his side.

The smooth skin of her palm runs slow along his torso as she places a few kisses to his chest; lightly she drags her nails just above his pelvis causing a noticeable twitch below and earning a throaty groan from the man.

Leaning up she kisses him, hand moving to tenderly grasp his face, before resting her head against his bicep.

As she caresses his beard and skin, he glides his fingers up and down her side.

“I never even asked you, where’re you living now?” he questions.

“Nowhere,” she runs her thumb along his lip as she sees the confusion on his face.

He moves onto his side to face her, “What do you mean?” his hand caressing her thigh, then combing through her hair at the side of her head.

“I’ve been traveling so much that settling down anywhere seemed pointless,” she sighs, “But I want to, I want to have a place to settle down. The traveling, it’s not for me anymore.”

Matt kisses her shoulder, then her, “And where would you want to live?”

“With you.”

Fitting her chin between his thumb and forefinger, he guides her closer, kissing her.

“Where should we live?” He smirks, kissing her forehead, then looking at her, rubbing small circles on her back.

Her hand runs up his chest, makes its way up his neck, where she brushes her thumb over his earlobe before kissing him.

“The only place we’ve had the chance to be truly happy,” she starts, a smile appearing.

Matt finishes her thought, “Ojai?”

Addy nods, smiling more as he kisses her.

“Okay,” he agrees, his voice soft, “Let’s live in Ojai,” with his loving grin caused only by her.


End file.
